Warframe creator Digital Extremes announces Soulframe, a new free-to-play action MMO

Did I get enough buzz words in that headline?

One big issue with writing for Destructoid while also working a full-time job is that it’s very difficult to keep up with those games-as-a-service titles I love while also doing all the reviews, previews, and general articles that are of interest to me. It’s too easy for these games to fall to the wayside, which is exactly what happened to Warframe about a year ago. Despite the many hours I put into it on Switch, I just couldn’t catch up and keep up with everything Digital Extremes was putting out. Hopefully, I’ll be better at managing my time when Soulframe launches.

Easily the biggest announcement at Saturday’s TennoCon, Digital Extremes whipped an impressively beautiful and cryptic trailer for its Soulframe reveal. Announced as a free-to-play action hybrid-MMORPG that takes place in a fantasy setting, this will be the next original game from Digital Extremes and arguably its biggest undertaking since beginning work on Warframe. In addition to the trailer linked above (which is sadly age-restricted), Digital Extremes also launched the game’s website with a few pieces of concept art.

“With Soulframe’s worldbuilding and thematic elements, we are really looking to go back to our childhood favorites and pull inspiration from the elaborate fantasy worlds that we fell in love with growing up,” Soulframe Creative Director Geoff Crookes said in a press release. “Our team is really interested in this idea of nature and humanity colliding and we’ll be exploring a lot of those themes through our own lens while playing with ideas of restoration and exploration.”

While some big names within Digital Extremes are moving over to the Soulframe team, the developer was quick to confirm that it will keep supporting, expanding, and updating its flagship title Warframe.

Much more for Warframe

Speaking of Warframe, Digital Extremes shared some new details on the highly anticipated Duviri Paradox expansion. Set the release on all platforms this winter, The Duviri Paradox begins a new chapter of the Warframe storyline with an expansive world and a looping day cycle.

Beyond The Duviri Paradox, Digital Extremes also took time at TennoCon 2022 to reveal Styanax as the 50th Warframe, announce the Veilbreaker update will be coming soon to all platforms, and confirm that Rebecca Ford, the Live Operations & Community Director at Digital Extremes, has taken over as Creative Director for Warframe as Steve Sinclair moves over to Soulframe.

Beyond the Soulframe reveal, my favorite announcement yesterday was the confirmation that community testing will start soon for cross-play. Back when it first launched, I tested the waters of the PlayStation 5 version of Warframe and was completely blown away by how gorgeous the game looked. After putting a few hours into that, it was tough to go back to the just-okay-looking Switch version. The only problem is I put so much time into the game on Switch, I can’t bring myself to start from scratch on PS5. That’s a big reason why I dropped off it in favor of its competitors. So, the sooner cross-play and cross-progression get here for Warframe, the better.